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A recent study of the Denver areas labor market gives hard statistics to what local employers and job seekers already know, from experience. This area has an employment problem, but the local economy remains strong anyway.
The Metro Denver Job Vacancy Survey compiled in April by a private-public group shows that there are more job openings than people looking for jobs. Employers have generally increased wages, bonuses and health care benefits to attract people to Jobs. Those employers may pay better, but they're also trying to keep pay increases as low as possible.
"We wanted to get to the heart of the labor shortage issue when we started this study a year ago," said Patricia Buys. director of Arapahoe/Douglas 'Works! Workforce Center in Aurora and the brains behind the fledgling study. "We wanted to put a microscope on the issue, to figure out whether or not there is a labor shortage."
"The survey puts science behind anecdotal evidence," added Alexandra Hall, a senior economist at...